'AN AWESOME PIECE OF ORDNANCE'

The SMAW-NE is not scrawny. Quite the opposite. As Defense Tech explains, the Marines aren't talking a lot about their new weapon. They're letting the shockwave do the talking:

This is a version of the standard USMC Shoulder Mounted Assault Weapon but with a new warhead. Described as NE -- "Novel Explosive" -- it is a thermobaric mixture which ignites the air, producing a shockwave of unparalleled destructive power, especially against buildings.

A post-action report from Iraq describes the effect of the new weapon: "One unit disintegrated a large one-storey masonry type building with one round from 100 meters. They were extremely impressed." Elsewhere it is described by one Marine as "an awesome piece of ordnance."

This is the stuff of nightmares, if you're on the wrong side. And the receiving end.